


The Ones Who Hold Us Close

by A7XfoREVer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Male Slash, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-09 06:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10405491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A7XfoREVer/pseuds/A7XfoREVer
Summary: Sirius takes Harry away from Godric's Hollow before Dumbledore can take him away and frame Sirius for James's and Lily's murder. Raising Harry in the Muggle World with Remus's help, away from most magical people, is a challenge in and of itself. When you add an accidental meeting with a young witch, bullying cousins, and two incredibly smart children... Well, it becomes a whole other ballgame. Sirius just hopes the house stays standing.





	1. The Story Begins

In an office in a school far up north in Scotland, a lone figure sat at a desk, writing down information from the teachers about their students. Periodically, he would pause in his writing, to dip is quill into an inkpot on the table above the parchment he was writing on.

Suddenly, three alarms went off in the office, one after the other.

The man’s head snapped up and he looked around frantically, looking for the sources of the alarms. When they were located, he visibly paled, before he got up and walked over to the fireplace. On the mantel were four trinkets, three of them screaming out their warnings. The wards at the house they were connected to had fallen, and the parents of the boy living in the house were dead. The man noted with relief that the fourth alarm stayed silent, though the others had gone off.

In the middle of the mantel was a bowl with green powder. The man took a handful, before he threw it in the fire. The flames turned green and he stuck his head into the fire where he called out a single name.

“Sirius Black!"

-o-0-o-

In a house in London, a chime could be heard through the spacious flat, coming from the fireplace, before an urgent voice called out.

“Sirius Black!”

Sirius came running from the kitchen and knelt on the rug on the floor in front of the head floating in the flames.

“What is it, Headmaster?”

“Something has happened to the Potters, I’m afraid. Come through to my office in half an hour, my boy. I’m afraid you’re going to be needed. Come through the Floo Network, I’ll leave the connection to my fireplace open for you, my boy.”

Sirius flinched away, before saying in a shaky voice, “I’ll be there, Headmaster. I’ll get my things together, then Floo through when you’re ready.”

As Sirius pulled back from the fireplace, his thoughts were running wild. What could have happened to his friends? He hoped it wasn’t anything too serious, though the cold dread he felt in the pit of his stomach told him it was nothing good.

The time drew near to leave, so Sirius walked around in his flat, finding his wand and cloak, then went to gather some of his Hit Wizard gear, just in case. He then went back to the fireplace, took a pinch of Floo Powder and threw it in and stepped into the flames.

“Headmaster Dumbledore’s office!” was called out, loud and clear, and with that, Sirius Black disappeared in a ball of green flames.

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, in Headmaster Dumbledore’s office, the old man had a visitor in his office.

“Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?”

“I thought I should tell you that something has happened. Earlier tonight, I felt a searing pain in my mark, which then started fading. It is almost entirely gone now, just a faint grey outline on my arm.”

“That does explain quite a bit, Severus. I’m afraid I have some bad news, and a plea for your help.”

“What can I do for you, Headmaster?”

“The Potters were attacked tonight. Just as expected, as soon as he deemed it safe enough, Pettigrew ran to Tom with his information, and told them where the Potters were living. Tom went to their place in Godric’s Hollow tonight and killed both James and Lily. Little Harry survived the attack, though, and, according to the prophecy, he’ll be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord. Tonight has proved the prophecy to be true. Since your mark has started fading, I can only assume that he managed to fulfill part of that prophecy tonight. However, Tom will be back. He’s not completely gone, yet. How he managed to do that, I do not know, but he did.

“According to James’s and Lily’s wills, Sirius will get custody of Harry. I cannot allow that to happen. Harry will need to be raised in a way that will allow us to have a considerable amount of power over him when he’s older, make him trust us enough to want to do what we need him to do, which is to sacrifice himself in the fight against Voldemort.”

“And how will you go about doing that, Headmaster?”

“I’m going to send Sirius after Peter, and then frame Sirius for James’s and Lily’s death by telling everyone he was the Secret Keeper, not Peter. I will send Hagrid to Godric’s Hollow to collect Harry and tell him to bring him here, where it’s safe.”

“That seems like a good plan, Headmaster. It should certainly work, what with Black’s incurable Gryffindor behavior.”

With that, Severus Snape turned around and quickly left Dumbledore’s office, robes billowing behind him. Walking quickly, he went down to the entrance hall and found an empty classroom. Out of his robes, he pulled one of the spare glass vials that he always carried with him, put his wand to his temple and pulled a memory from his head which he then deposited into the vial.

-o-0-o-

When Sirius appeared in Headmaster Dumbledore’s office, he saw another man there. He was big and tall, bigger than any normal man, with a head of brown, bushy hair and an equally bushy beard.

“Hey, Hagrid. What’s going on, Headmaster?” he said, when he had stepped out of the fireplace and dusted himself off.

“I’m afraid I have grave news, Sirius. Something has happened at the Potter’s house. I’m afraid, Sirius, that Peter has betrayed you all. The wards have fallen.”

“W-what!?”

“Young Harry is still alive, but I’m afraid both Lily and James are gone, Sirius. I have alarms connected to all of them and their house. All but Harry’s went off. Hagrid, I want you to go to the house in Godric’s Hollow and take care of Harry, I’ll meet you there in a little while to check on him and bring him here for the time being. See what you can salvage from the house for Harry, gather the things you can, and I’ll meet you there. We need to get Harry to safety.”

“A´righ´, Mr. Dumbledore, sir. But how will I get there?”

“Hagrid, I left my motorbike here the last time I was here. I want you to take it to Godric’s Hollow, there’s a side car on it where you can put Harry. He’s used to riding on it with me.” 

“I’ll do tha’, Sirius,” Hagrid said, then left the office to go find the bike.

“Sirius, I want you to go find Peter. Don’t let him suspect you know what he’s done, just get him somewhere safe so we can figure out what happened. I’ll send some Aurors after you so we can catch him. I’ll take care of Harry until you have found Peter, then bring him to you when it’s safe.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Headmaster? Shouldn’t I be there with Hagrid, to take care of Harry? Harry knows me, is used to me, but he doesn’t know Hagrid very well.”

“Everything will be just fine, my boy, just fine,” Dumbledore said, with a little twinkle in his blue eyes. 

Everything was going to plan now. Finally, everything was as it should be. The Potters were out of the way, and he could get control of the boy. He just had to keep Sirius from getting to Harry and make sure to keep him out of the way. It wouldn’t do to have the Savior of the Wizarding World growing up with Sirius Black, the Heir to one of the darkest Wizarding Families in their World, no matter that the man had been a Gryffindor. The boy would grow up entirely too spoiled and independent for his liking., and that would make it a lot harder than it needed to be to make the boy do what was needed. It was all for The Greater Good.

-o-0-o-

Sirius ran through the school as fast as he could. He needed to reach the gates to be able to apparate away because of the anti-apparition wards on the castle. He couldn’t understand why Dumbledore wanted him to go after Peter, though. Why would he ask him to do that? Why not contact the Aurors and have an official investigation? Yes, Sirius was a Hit Wizard, but it couldn’t be a good idea to send him in alone and unprepared, no matter how successful he was at his job. Something just wasn’t adding up.

His instincts were screaming at him to not obey Dumbledore, to go straight to Godric’s Hollow to check on Harry. He wanted to see for himself that he was alright. Lily and James had, after all, asked him to be Godfather and to take care of Harry if anything happened to them.

When he reached the entrance hall, he stopped dead in his tracks, though. In front of the big double doors stood a man, blocking his way.

“What do you want, Snape?” he almost spat out. “I’m in a hurry, you need to move. Now.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but you need to come with me. You still have some time, it will take Hagrid at least an hour to reach Godric’s Hollow from here.”

“He has my bike, so no more than forty minute, I think, since he can fly in a mostly straight line.”

“Alright then, forty minutes. That still gives us some time. I have something I need to show you.”

“What are you up to, Snape? I don’t have time for your games right now. I need to get going. How do you know where Hagrid’s going, anyway?”

“We’ll get to that, but you need to come with me. I have a memory I need to show you. I’m afraid Dumbledore has finally gone insane, and you need to be prepared.”

Severus started walking towards a door on the far wall, and after a bit of deliberation, Sirius followed. Hopefully, this would be quick. He needed to get to Harry.

As they entered the empty room, Severus transfigured one of the chairs in there into a pensieve, poured his memory from the vial, then gestured towards it, indicating that Sirius should take a look.

“Hurry up, Black. You’re wasting time,” he sneered when Sirius hesitated. “Time you do not have.”

With a deep breath, Sirius walked towards the pensieve, bent down and dipped his face into the liquid floating there, before he was pulled into the memory.

He was horrified at what he saw there. He couldn’t believe it. Dumbledore was planning to have him framed for murder, get him thrown in Azkaban! His mentor and friends had betrayed them all, and for what? To get control of Harry? His anger took root, and started to simmer at a slow boil. He would not stand for that happening. He was not going to let Dumbledore ruin everything even more than he already had. He was going to take Harry far away from there, raise him away from Dumbledore, where they wouldn’t be found. A vague plan started to form in his mind. The first thing he had to do, though, was get Harry from his house, then contact Moony.

As he came out of the memory, he turned to Severus.

“That cannot be allowed to happen, Snape. You have my thanks for showing me this, but can I take it with me to show to Remus? I think I’ll need it to convince him of what is going on.”

“Of course you can, that’s why I have it in the vial,” Snape said, as he gathered the memory back up into the vial he held in his hands, then held the now closed vial towards Sirius.

“As much as it horrifies me to say this, to you of all people, I do not wish that to happen to the brat, either. I will… try to help you as I can,” he said with a grimace and a shudder. “I will contact you through Gringotts when I have news. We can communicate through them, so no owls will be seen coming or going from your place of residence, when you find a place to live, and so no one can connect us through the owls.”

“And much as this horrifies me, thank you, Snape. I have to go now, though, if I’m to have any chance of getting to Harry before Hagrid does. I only have about half an hour to get everything together, then disappear with Harry.”

With that, Sirius left the classroom and ran through the doors leading outside, across the grounds and out through the gates. There he stopped, turned on the spot, and disappeared with a crack.

He appeared again in front of a house. Or what was left of the house. There was a big part of the second floor missing and part of a wall on the first floor was caved in. 

Running up to the house, he went through the blasted down door and into the house. The first thing he saw was James, lying on the floor with his wand in his hand. He couldn’t think about him, though. James was already gone, and he needed to get to Harry. He was the priority here.

Heart beating in his chest, he ran up the stairs to go to Harry’s room, where he was sure he’d find his Godson. Dear Merlin, he hoped he was okay. 

As he got closer to Harry’s room at the end of the hall, he heard little whimpers coming from the room. Breathing a sigh of relief that Harry was at least alive, he prayed to Merlin that the little boy was okay, despite the trauma of the night.

“Harry,” he called out to the little boy, and the whimpers stopped for a moment, then started again and turned into crying. The heart wrenching sobs coming from his little godson made his heart clench in pain and worry, and he walked faster along the hallway to reach him.

“Harry. Pup. It’s okay. Uncle Padfoot’s here.”

“Unca’ Pa’foo’! Mama! Dada!”

“I know sweetie. I’m coming to get you, Harry. You just stay where you are. Uncle Padfoot’s coming to get you.”

Sirius finally reached Harry’s room and stepped inside carefully. He saw Lily lying on the floor in front of Harry’s little crib. She was gone, too. Both Lily and James were gone. Turning his eyes to the crib, he saw Harry standing in the crib, holding onto the bars, tears streaking down his cheeks and blood on his forehead. As he saw Sirius, he reached his little arms up and started crying again.

“Up, Pa’foo’! Up! Mama?”

Sirius walked across the room and picked Harry up, cradling him close to his chest.

“I know sweetie. I know. Right now, we need to go, though. Uncle Padfoot needs to pack some of your things so you can come with me. We need to get you out of this house, before Hagrid gets here. I can’t let him take you away from me.”

Putting Harry back down into his crib was one of the hardest things Sirius had ever done. Having seen how the house looked and how terrified Harry had been with his mother’s body so close and the wound on his forehead…. Merlin, he really didn’t want to let the little boy go, but he needed both his hands for what he had to do. He had to pack all of Harry’s things that he could. All the important things, anyway.

“There, sweetheart, I’ll just be a minute,” Sirius said. “I need to get your things into a bag so we can go.”

He didn’t know how much he could take without making Dumbledore suspicious, or how much he’d even need. He hadn’t taken care of Harry for long periods of time alone. Just for an evening once in a while when James wanted to take Lily somewhere. He didn’t even know how much of Harry’s stuff had even survived the explosion of the house.

First things first – finding James’s old trunk. It was protected against theft, had multiple compartments, and had locks that could only be opened by a Potter, and himself of course, since he and James were sworn blood brothers. He ran through the house, going into James’s and Lily’s room. James had told him they put both their trunks under their bed. Dragging them both out, he shrunk Lily’s and placed it inside James’s trunk.

Going back into Harry’s room, Harry’s clothes and baby things were first on the list, the most important things. He took out his wand and opened all the drawers and cupboards in the room, then floated all of Harry’s things into the trunk. Then he looked around for his toys. Most of them would have to stay here – he simply didn’t have the space for all of them – and he could always buy new ones. There were a few that were important, though. Harry had four teddies, a stag for his father, a dog for himself, a wolf for Moony, and a rat for the Traitor. He didn’t want to take the rat, but the other three were important. And photos! He needed to see if he could salvage any photos from the wreckage.

And what about… hmm. He looked around upstairs for Lily’s wand and decided to take James’s on the way out when they left. They could be important later, if for no other reason than to let Harry have them as mementos of his parents when he was older.

He packed the rest of the things from the house he could save and decided that would have to do. He couldn’t drag around stuff that needed to be repaired or was destroyed beyond repair. He simply didn’t have the room for it.

On his way to get Harry again, he remembered James’s cloak, and quickly ran into James’s and Lily’s again to get it. It would be dead useful if they ever needed to hide away, and he wanted to be able to give it to Harry when he went to Hogwarts. He was the son of the Marauders, after all, and being able to do pranks undetected… it was worth the trouble should he ever get caught. 

When he got back to Harry’s room to get the little boy so they could leave, the little boy was sitting down is his crib, looking around and rubbing his eyes from tiredness. Sirius, lifted him out of the crib, and held him tight to his chest with one arm, grabbed Harry’s trunk and James’s cloak in the other, then walked as fast as he could through the house. Time was almost up, and he had to get away. Now!

Just as he got outside, he heard the faint rumblings of his bike in the distance, but getting closer very fast. He spun around and disappeared, just as he caught the first glimpse of the bike in the distance.


	2. Moony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moony... well. He's Moony. Not much more you can say about that. At least he was the smart one, the one who came up with the plans. The planner. Maybe, just maybe, Sirius actually managed to learn something from him while at school? We'll see.

It was late, and Remus was just about to get ready for bed, when he heard a loud, rapid knocking on his door. He wondered who would be out so late at night, but stood up to go answer, surprised when he saw Padfoot standing out in the dark with a bundle of blankets cradled to his chest with one arm, and James’s trunk and cloak held tightly in his other hand.

Opening the door, he barely managed to get out of the way as Sirius came barging in, closing the door behind him.

“Moony, I need to talk to you. It’s very important. Has Dumbledore been here tonight? In the last few minutes?”

“No, Padfoot, why do you ask?”

“It’s James and Lily. They’re gone. I’ve got Harry, but Moony, you won’t believe what Dumbledore did,” Sirius, voice cracking as if he was about to cry.

“W-what? What do you mean, James and Lily are gone? And what did Dumbledore do?”

“Pettigrew, the traitor, must have told Voldemort where they were. He showed up at their house tonight, and killed James and Lily. Harry survived, though I don’t know how. Dumbledore called me to his office earlier tonight, told me to go after Peter and Hagrid to get Harry. I didn’t go after him, though, because I had a feeling something was wrong and when I got to the entrance hall, Snape was there and he showed me a memory because Dumbledore talked to him and so when I was done I apparated straight to Godric’s Hollow to get Harry and his things, I mean, he doesn’t know Hagrid that well, and I’m not going to go after Peter alone! I also didn’t want Hagrid to take Harry, I don’t really trust him with Hagrid, he’s too little, and everything’s just so wrong now, and it’s just… everything’s… I just… Here, I’ll just show you, it’s easier, and I’m too shaken up to explain it all properly right now,” Sirius said, out of breath from trying to get everything out in one rush.

“It’s alright, Padfoot. It’s alright. Just breathe. I’ll have a look at the memory, okay? Is Harry alright, though? Is he hurt?”

“He just has a wound on his forehead, Moony, but otherwise, he seems fine. I’ll check him over while you watch the memory. Here,” Sirius said, extracting his memory with his wand and letting it fall into pensieve.  
Sirius set the trunk and cloak down by the table, then walked over to the old sofa in the corner to put Harry down. Just as he turned around to take care of Harry, he saw Remus bend down to view the memory in the old, cracked pensieve he’d gotten as a graduation gift from himself, James and Peter.

A few minutes later, Remus stood up from the pensieve with a gasp, a terrified look on his face.

“Sirius… I just… don’t know what to say. He set James and Lily up to die? Just because of some fickle prophecy? I do agree with him that Voldemort will believe it and therefore go after Harry, but to go to these lengths, just to be hailed as the leader of the Wizarding World, the most powerful wizard… To sacrifice good, honest, innocent people that honestly loved him just for this? It horrifies me. That he could do that. We cannot let him get ahold of Harry. We have to protect him.”  
Remus paced around the floor in thoughtful silence for a minute, before sitting down next to Sirius and Harry on the sofa.

“Okay. So, here’s what we need to do. We need to go to Gringotts, have you do the inheritance ritual, and become Head of House of Black. That way, you’re ensured a bit more protection against the law, should Dumbledore try to do anything to you that way. It will also make sure no one else from your family can take over that title should something happen to you. You will also need to instate Harry as your heir, and find a Regent should something happen to you before Harry grows up. Oh, and you should also ask the Goblins to help you take over guardianship of Harry, in a legal manner, so that no one can take that away from you. Perhaps a blood adoption would be the best course of action.

“You will need to tell the Goblins what is happening so they can read James’s and Lily’s will and get it executed, just in case Dumbledore tries to circumvent it. In that same line of thought, we need to make sure he can’t have access to the Potter or Black vaults, in case he tries to seize any of your funds for his own use in the war.

“We can ask the Goblins for help in finding a house to live in. We’ll need to stay close, to be able to do what we need to do, but we should also stay in the Muggle World. To be able to do that safely, we’ll also need new identities. We can all keep our first names, but we should change our last names, just in case.”

“Are you coming with us, then, Moony?”

“Of course, I am, Padfoot. I’m not going to leave you alone to raise Harry, and I’m certainly not going to stay here to be manipulated by Dumbledore into helping him. You’re my only friend I have left, anyways, and what would I do without you? Besides, it’s very unlikely that I’ll ever get a job here in the Wizarding World, what with my Furry Little Problem, so it’s better for me to live in the Muggle World. There I can at least claim to be Wiccan so I can get out of work on the Full Moon should it be needed. Muggles make allowances because of religion, they’re not allowed to fire people because of their religions and they won’t grow suspicious of my absence.”

“Okay, Moony, that’s good. I’ll be glad to have you with us. You also know more of the Muggle World than I do, and I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“It’s decided then. We’ll get to that first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll have to go early, though, to be able to avoid Dumbledore should he come here tomorrow morning. We can just carry Harry so he can keep sleeping. It might be a good idea to get some things from Muggle London, though, like a chair to keep him in. They have some good inventions for babies over there, to make it easier for them.”

“Agreed. I will need to go back to my apartment tonight, though, so I can gather my things from it before anyone goes through all my stuff. I have a lot of our Marauder stuff there, and I’d like to get some of my clothes. Can you take care of Harry for an hour, or so, while I go do this?”

“Of course, Paddy, no problem,” Remus said with a smirk.

Sirius growled a little at the nickname and scowled at Remus. “You know I hate that nickname, Moony. Maybe I should take up calling you Mooey, like Prongslet does,” he said with an annoyed voice, barely keeping his laughter in.

“You know you love it, Paddy,” Remus said with a small grin on his face. “Well,” he continued, “you’d best get going if you’re going to go tonight, so we can all get some sleep tonight. We’ll have to be up early.”

“Alright. I’ll go now, then. Are you sure you’ll be fine with Harry alone?”

“Of course, I will, Padfoot. I have taken care of him before, you know. And I have a place to hide him, should it be needed.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later, then,” Sirius said, and disappeared with a crack.  
He appeared again in the living room of his apartment. He hurried while gathering his things, putting them in his trunk. He packed everything he thought would come in handy – he had his mother’s old Black Book of Blackmail material, just in case he’d need some leverage on some of the more important people in the Wizengamot, some of his old school supplies, like his old books and notes, his clothes, and of course his Marauder things, like their Prank Journal and Map. The Journal and the Map would be given to Harry before he went to Hogwarts.

He looked around his apartment for the last time, before he walked out the front door, sealed it shut, then cast the Fidelius Charm on it, making himself the Secret Keeper. That way, no one could find it without going through him first, and he’d be able to go back there if he ever needed it. Otherwise, he would be able to give it to Harry when he came of age.

He then apparated back to Remus’s place with his things.  
Remus was still up when Sirius arrived, and opened the door for Sirius when he knocked.

“You got everything you need, Padfoot?”

“Yeah, I did,” Sirius said with sadness in his voice. He liked his apartment and didn’t want to leave it behind, but it was necessary. For now, at least.

“We’d best get some sleep, then. I don’t know how to arrange things, though. There’s not like there’s a lot of space here, and there’s only the one bedroom. There’s no space out here to transfigure the couch into a bed, though, so we only have the one bed.”

“It’s no problem, Moony. We can share you bed, and we can transfigure a chair into  
a small crib for Harry so he can sleep in there with us. It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before when we were younger.”

“Okay,” Remus said, blushing a little as he did so. Sharing a bed with Sirius… That seemed big, somehow. He didn’t entirely know why, but it left him feeling a little flustered.

“I’ll transfigure one of your kitchen chairs, Moony. Can you go move your bed to one side and enlarge it as much as the space will allow us, while leaving a bit of space on one side of the bed for our things and Harry’s crib?”  
“Sure, no problem, Padfoot,” Remus said, and walked quickly into his small bedroom, trying to hide his flushing face from Sirius, so he wouldn’t see it and start teasing him about being uncomfortable.

He moved his twin bed to one side of the room. There wasn’t a lot of space, but he managed to widen the bed a little, to allow room for both him and Sirius on it, but still leave some space for Harry.

A minute later, Sirius came walking into the room, floating a small crib in front of him that he managed to fit into the small space left by the right wall of the room. He went back out to the living room to collect Harry, then came back and placed him in the crib. One last trip, and he brought their trunks and cloaks with him, setting them in the small space left in front of the crib. The room was cramped, but it would do for the night.

He turned towards Remus, then, and saw the other man had already gotten into the bed and was lying close to the wall, under the little window in the room. He quickly transfigured his clothes into comfortable pajamas, cast an alarm charm for 5:30 the next morning, then got into the bed next to Remus and closed his eyes.

“G’night, Moony,” he whispered into the dark of the room.

“G’night, Padfoot,” Remus answered.

Hoping they’d be able to get some sleep, they both tried to shut their brains off, and tried not to think about what had happened this horrible night.

Before too long, both men were sound asleep, curled up next to each other, their hands touching as if to seek comfort from each other in their sleep.

In the small crib next to them slept the little boy who would overnight gain instant fame in the Wizarding World, known as the Boy Who Lived, oblivious to everything that was happening.

That night, celebrations were held throughout Britain. Everyone was celebrating the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort, raising their glasses to the Potters who had given their lives to him, and to Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. I can not believe I almost forgot to post the next chapter. Well, I hope you know the drill, people! Constructive critisism is always welcome, and please, enjoy.


	3. Gringotts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gringotts and Goblins... Well, there's nothing much to really be done except go with the flow. A short visit should get everything sorted.

As Sirius woke up to slight buzzing in his ear the next morning, he registered something warm curled around him. He slowly opened it eyes, and came face to face with a head of light brown hair. He registered the arm that was thrown across his waist, and the leg that was between his own.

He extracted him slowly, turned off the alarm, then nudged Moony slightly to wake him up.

“Huh? Wha’? Padfoot, what are you… Oh. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Moony,” Sirius said, snickering at his friend that was clearly not entirely awake yet. No wonder, though, since it was too early to be up on a normal morning.

“You’d better get up, we have a lot of things to do today, and I’m going to need a lot of help.”

“Sure, Padfoot, whatever you say.”

Smirking, Sirius turned around and looked into Harry’s crib. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully, his Stag teddy clasped tight in his small arms, a slight frown on his face.

“Moony, can you transfigure your chair again, to make that seat for Harry that you were talking about yesterday? Or into something else that we can carry him in while he’s asleep. We’ll get a proper seat for him later, when we get to Muggle London.”

“Sure, Padfoot, I can do that,” Remus said, sounding a lot more awake now.

Transfiguring the seat was no problem, and Harry was soon seated comfortably in a seat that could be held by a plastic arch across and above the seat. There was a small cover to shield Harry from most of the light that would make its way into the open seat.

“We still have a bit of time until Gringotts opens for the day, so do you want to eat something before we go?”

“Sure thing, Moony. I can make some porridge if you want?”  
“Erh… I’d rather you not, Padfoot. I don’t have any wish to burn my cabin down. I’d better do it, I think.”

“Hey! That happened three years ago, Moony! No fair. I HAVE actually learned how to make proper porridge since then, you know. I do know how to feed myself. Mostly.”

“Whatever you say, Padfoot, whatever you say.”

Sirius sighed, then floated Harry’s seat out into the living while Remus put his room to right so no one would know Sirius had been there. Then he himself floated the trunks Sirius had brought with him out of the room to join his friend.

“Well, we have about 20 minutes until we can go to Gringotts, so let’s eat something.”

Pulling out his wand, Remus set the wooden spoon to stirring in a pot of oats and water he’d levitated onto the small two burner camping stove he had standing on his kitchen counter.

When the porridge was ready, he divided it into two bowls, but put a little aside in a small box and put a stasis charm on it so it would keep fresh and warm for Harry to eat later, when he woke up for the day.

The two friends sat down on the sofa with their food, since the one chair had been used for Harry, and the one other chair Remus had had had broken months ago, when Hagrid had tried to sit on it while visiting one evening. It had been smashed to smithereens and had been so destroyed that it could not be repaired with a simple Reparo spell. Remus hadn’t had the funds to replace it, and since so very few people visited him, he made do with his sofa when he needed additional seating.

Finished with their food, Sirius and Remus got their things in order, washed up the dishes used, then made the cabin look as if Remus had simply left for the day.

Remus took a trunk with some of his most important things, such as a few sets of clothes and some trinkets that he wanted with him, a photo album of his friends and some mementos, and then picked up Harry’s trunk as well. Sirius picked up his own trunk and Harry in his seat. They then left the cabin.

Before they left, Sirius sealed the cabin, had Remus place his hand on the door, and cast the Fidelius Charm, with Remus himself as Secret Keeper. As soon as it was done, the cabin disappeared from his view.

They then gripped their things tightly, before turning on the spot and apparating away with a crack.

-o-0-o-

Remus and Sirius, with their trunks and Harry in tow, appeared in front of the steps to Gringotts just before six o’clock in the morning. 

They hurried up the stairs, and waited outside the door until the bank opened. At six o’clock on the dot, the doors opened and a pair of Goblin guards walked outside to stand on each side of the grand double doors.

Sirius and Remus made their way inside, and walked straight up to the counter, as there were no other visitors in the bank this early in the morning.

“Good morning,” Sirius said to the Goblin at the counter. “I wish to speak to Steeltooth, manager of the Black accounts. As soon as possible, please.”

“Of course, Mr. Black.”

The Goblin pushed a few buttons under his counter, and a few minutes later, another Goblin walked out, directing them to follow him. He led them to an office further inside the bank, opened the door, and gestured them inside.

Inside the ornate office, behind a desk much too big for him, sat another Goblin.

“Good morning, Steeltooth.”

“Good morning, Mr. Black. And who is that with you?”

“This is my trusted friend, Remus Lupin. Anything talked about here today can be shared with him and talked about freely.”

“As you wish, Mr. Black. What can I do for you this morning? You are here quite early.”

“I have a few things I need to speak to you about, and I will need your help in a few things. You will be paid for the services, of course.”

“Of course, Mr. Black.”

“First, I wish to claim the Lordship of House of Black. I am the Heir to the House, so there should be no problem there.”

Steeltooth rang a bell, and another Goblin came walking into the room.

“Whitefang, go get a ritual bowl and knife from the Black vaults.”

“Of course, Steeltooth.”

“While Whitefang is getting the ritual bowl and knife, Steeltooth, I’ll tell you about a few other things we need done. We need to find Lord James Potter’s will, and his wife Lady Lily Potter’s will as well. Unfortunately, they were killed last night, and we need to have read today to be able to assume guardianship of Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter. There are some people who want to get ahold of him to further their own gain, and I wish to close all paths to do that.

“After the will has been read, I wish to blood adopt Harry, to legally make him my son and Heir to the House of Black.

“I will need to name a Regent to the House of Potter, and a Regent to the House of Black, should I meet an unfortunate end sooner than expected.

“I will also need to have both the Potter and Black vaults sealed, except for specific people. I’m afraid Albus Dumbledore may try to get into the vaults to search for information about where we’ve gone, and to try to withdraw from the vaults to use for his own agenda.

“I will need your help in creating new identities and papers for myself, for Harry, and for Remus, and help set us up in the Muggle World. We need to disappear from here, so no one can take Harry, or try to, at least. We will need a house to live in, in a Muggle neighborhood, as well.”

“That is quite a list, Mr. Black. Very well. We can do that. But it is going to cost you, mind you.”

“That should be fine, Steeltooth. You are providing us with a great service, after all.”

The Goblin smiled, then looked towards the door as it was opened and Whitefang stepped in with the ritual bowl, knife, and some papers in his hands.

“Here is the ritual bowl, Steeltooth, the knife, and the Potter’s wills. Was there anything else?”

“No, Whitefang, you may go.”

The door closed again, and the men were left with Steeltooth, who put the ritual bowl and knife on the desk, in front of Sirius.

“You are familiar with the ritual, are you not, Mr. Black?”

“Yes, I am,” Sirius said, then took up the knife and moved the bowl closer to himself. He then held his hand above the ritual bowl, with the knife held in the left, slashed his right palm and let a few drops of blood fall into the bowl.

“I, Sirius Orion Black, Heir to the House of Black, Son of the House of Potter, hereby claim the title of Lord of the House of Black, in blood, in oath, and in magic. So have I sworn, so mote it be.”

A silvery mist of magic swirled around Sirius and the bowl, judging his worth, before a ring appeared on his left hand. It bore the seal of the House of Black, declaring him Lord Black. The palm of his right hand had healed as the magic judged him.

“I think it would be best to read the will now, Steeltooth, before we proceed from there.”

“As you wish, Lord Black. Lord Potter’s first, I think.

“We, Lord James Potter and Lady Lily Potter, hereby declare this our Last Will and Testament. 

“To Remus Lupin, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and Lion’s House at Marauder Drive. May you always have a place of your own to call home.

“To Sirius Black, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and my apartment in Hogsmeade.

“To Peter Pettigrew, our Secret Keeper, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons and our cottage in Devon.

“To Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, we bequeath a sum of a hundred thousand galleons. May you use it well in the war against Voldemort, if it should still be raging when I perish. If not, use it for Hogwarts.

“All our assets, except those specifically named above, are to go to our son, Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter. Should we die before he is of age, guardianship should go to these people as follows:

1\. Harry’s Godfather, Sirius Black  
2\. Frank and Alice Longbottom  
3\. Minerva McGonagall  
4\. Andromeda And Theodore Tonks

“Under no circumstances should he go to Lily’s sister, Petunia Dursley nee Evans, and her husband, Vernon Dursley.

“Are there any objections to this will?”

“Yes, there are a couple,” Sirius said. “Peter Pettigrew is a traitor to James and Lily Potter. He went to Voldemort and disclosed their location to him. It’s his fault that they died. He should get nothing. Also, Albus Dumbledore. He has his own agenda and wants to gain control of Harry, to use him to further his own goals. He should also get nothing. Should you require proof, I have the memory that will prove it to you.”

“That should do just fine, Lord Black. If you will allow me to view it, I will review it, then declare these parts of the will void, or not.”

Sirius handed Steeltooth the vial with his memory he’d given to Remus the night before, and waited while Steeltooth watched it in his own pensieve.

“You are quite right in your assessment, Lord Black, neither of these men are eligible for their inheritances since they have breached the late Potter’s trust,” Steeltooth said after he had watched it. “The money and house meant to go to both Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Dumbledore will revert to Mr. Potter, then.

“So, that is that. I can, according to the will, award you custody of said child, Lord Black. And you wished to blood adopt him, you said?”

“Yes, I do. I want to be sure that no one can go against it, or deny me guardianship, as Dumbledore wants to do.”

“Very well. You know what to do?”

“Yes, I do.”

Sirius held his right hand over the ritual bowl again, slicing his palm and letting a few drops of blood fall. 

“I, Sirius Orion Black, hereby declare Harry James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter, to be my son, by blood, by magic, by oath. So have I sworn, so mote it be.”

As the silver mist of magic surrounded the ritual bowl and Sirius again, Steeltooth quickly snapped his fingers, and part of the blood in the bowl disappeared. He had spelled it straight into the sleeping Harry, lying in his seat beside Sirius. The mist of magic moved closer to Harry, surrounding him, before sinking into both of their skin and disappearing once more. As the magic took hold of Harry, he woke with a startled cry, and Sirius lifted him from his seat to his lap to comfort the little boy.

“It’s all going to be okay, Prongslet. It’s okay, Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony are here. It’s okay, sweetheart,” Sirius said, rocking Harry a little, back and forth, while stroking his back to calm him.

As the little boy calmed down in his arms, he looked up at Steeltooth.

“And I can declare him the Heir to my House now, too, right? Then we can have his inheritance rituals, for both the Potter and Black Houses, when he grows older, as is tradition?”

“You can declare him your Heir, yes, but only in your Will. The ritual won’t take hold now, while he’s so young. He’ll have to be able to accept the responsibility of the titles, knowingly and willingly, so he has to be at least 8 years old before that can be done.”

“Alright, we’ll come back for that in a few years, then. For now, though, I’ll have to name Regents. I will, as Harry’s father, be Regent of the Potter house and sit for him at the Wizengamot, when the time comes for that, as well as sit in the Black seat as Lord Black. Should I perish, though, I wish to name Uncle Alphard’s son, Sterling Black as Regent, until Harry comes of age. He will be Regent for the Potter seat as well.”

“Very well, that will go into you Will, then.”

“We’re almost done, then. I will have to seal all Black and Potter vaults so no one can have access, unless authorized by me. Only myself, Harry James Potter, and Remus Lupin, should have access to the vaults. No others.

“The last thing I need is to set up identities for us for the Muggle World, and a place to live. We don’t dare go back to any property we have now, despite it being under Fidelius. Besides that, the only property we have between Remus and myself that’s in the Muggle World, is my apartment, and it’s too small for all three of us to live in. We need a bigger place, a house preferably, that’s situated in a nice and quiet, Muggle neighborhood.”

“That should be no problem. It will take about an hour for the identities to be fully finished, registered, and functional. While we get that settled, you can look at the list of properties Gringotts owns in and around London. You just need to tell me which names you want to use for the identities?”

“That sounds perfect. Moony, what do you think about names?”

“Well, we need to have names that we can easily remember. Harry can just go by his own name. It’s well used name in the Muggle World, because of Prince Harry, so that’s not at all suspicious. We always go by our Marauder names, anyways, so the only thing we need to worry about is finding names we’ll recognize when in the company of Muggles, then finding last names for us all. You will obviously use the same name as Harry, he is your adopted son, so that just leaves me. Hmmm… How about… Remi for me, and… Orion for you? It’s your middle name, and your father’s name, so you should remember it, but so few people here would associate you with it because of your dislike of your father.”

“That sounds reasonable. Remi also doesn’t sound too far from Remus that you won’t be able to remember it.”

“That’s what I was thinking. As for last names… You and Harry can use… How about Bell? Or Blake?”  
“Bell would be better, I think. Blake sounds too close to Black. Should someone come across us, they might be able to make the connection from Blake to Black.”

“Bell it is, then. And I think I’ll go with… Locke, I think.”

“Alright, Steeltooth, we have the names, then. Harry and Orion Bell, and Remi Locke.”

“I’ll just send that off, then, Lord Black. You’ll have your identification in about an hour. In the meantime, here is a list of our properties. If you want to take a closer look, just tap you wand on the name twice, and the parchment will show you pictures of the property and some more specific statistics.”

“Thank you, Steeltooth, you’ve been a tremendous help today.”

“It is no matter, Lord Black. Our coffers will sing with happiness after this meeting,” Steeltooth said with a little smirk as he climbed down from the chair behind his desk. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” he said as he walked towards the door “and come back in about half an hour. You can tell me your decision then.”

-o-0-o-

An hour later, Sirius, Remus, and Harry left Gringotts, after having applied some glamors to make them less noticeable and memorable. They didn’t want to be recognized, after all, so close to being free. 

Sirius and Remus both had new papers in their trunks, identification cards and passports. Sirius also had the key to their new house, and they both had a decent amount of Muggle money. They had been issued some plastic cards by the Goblins, Steeltooth had called them debit and credit cards, that were directly linked to their vaults in Gringotts. That way, they’d be able to pay for things, without having to go to the bank every time they needed some money. Sirius was quite perplexed over the cards, but Remus had seemed to know what to do with them, so Sirius decided he’d just ask him later.

They had settled on a nice house in one of the better neighborhoods of a small town called Little Whinging, Surrey, just south of London. It wasn’t big, but it had all the necessities. They had four bedrooms, two baths, a decently sized kitchen and a good living room. They also had a good back garden where Harry could run around and play, when he got a little older.

It was perfect for them, at least for now. There was a good school not too far away, and there was a park and playground close by, as well.

They walked quickly through Diagon Alley, avoiding the few people that could be seen getting out and about as it neared 8 o’clock, and most shops would be opening soon.

Going through the Leaky Cauldron, they stepped out into Muggle London, and stood on the street for a while, looking around, before Remus managed to hail a cab and tell them where they were going.

They were in the car for almost an hour, before they reached their destination. Stepping out of the car, Sirius and Remus looked up at the very unremarkable house in front of them, and smiled. This would be perfect.

Gathering their things, they paid their fare for the car, walked up to the house, unlocked the door and walked inside, all the while hoping they’d made the right decision. They had some hard times in front of them, but they would all be worth it. They hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi people! I hope you liked this chapter! Just a short warning, I'm leaving the country for a small Easter Holiday, and I probably won't have my computer with me, so I don't think I'll be able to post next week. I will try, though.  
> A7XfoREVer2017!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi people! This is my first story that I've posted on here, so please read and review it. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize, but I have no beta on this story, so this is just read through by myself, and since I'm note a native English speaker, there might be a few.  
> I will try to post a chapter of the story every week, but I can make no promises that it'll work, since I'm in college and have a lot of studies to get through every week.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading, hope I get some reviews, and I'd love some constructive critisism if anyone has something to say. I'll try to make the changes if it's something that makes sense for the story.  
> A7XfoREVer2017!


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